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Saturday, May 10, 2014

Remote Possibility

Ever since my aging HTC Incredible 2 stopped being able to recognize its microSD slot a few weeks ago, I have struggled for a reason not to recycle it. I mean it's still a 4" WiFi tablet, but its old, non-upgradeable OS (Android 2.3.4) means my choice in browsers is limited, as are the sites I can use without crashing it. It also still works pretty well for GPS stuff (Glympse, GoogNav, etc.), but no camera and no music makes this thang more paperweight than I would like.

Since my PC is now my all-in-one solitary entertainment center, I decided it'd be nice to be able to control Netflix from the HTC. Enter myRemote, which is a free Android app that will work with Windows Media Center. Now, I'd much rather view Netflix using a browser, since its UI is 10x faster. But being able to lay down to sleep and not have to get back up to navigate to the next episode of Breaking Bad is not worth nothing. :)

The app is no-muss, no-fuss. Just launch the server app on the PC (requires latest Java JRE), tell the Android client the server's IP address (which it tells you with a right-click on its system tray widget), and you're off to the races. Me likey. Plus, if I'm watching Battlestar Galactica DVDs at bedtime, I won't have to wake up to that annoying menu music playing over and over every 65 seconds. :)